When the Federal Debt ceiling was raised the media portrayed it as an averted disaster that was “completely unnecessary” according to President Obama. In an effort to make my own determination about the consequences of the shutdown I went back to the source of the quote by President Obama to understand the context of the statement. The quote comes from a CBS News interview on October 9th and I’ve included it below for your viewing.
In the interview President Obama says the following with regards to the impacts of the shutdown:
“… Right off the bat you’ve got hundreds of thousands of people [federal workers] across the country who aren’t sure about their paychecks. That also has an economic impact, it means that the restaurants in Virginia, maybe they’re not getting as many customers because some of those federal workers are worried and holding back on spending. It means that businesses that provide services to the federal government, they’re not getting paid, so that may have an impact on their payroll. So the ripple effects from this, across the board, are particularly damaging for this area and Virginia. And that’s why what I’ve said repeatedly this is completely unnecessary. The reason we’re where we are right now, Speaker Boehner and House Republicans, thought that they could get leverage in budget negotiations or de-fund the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, by taking us to the brink, and essentially trying to hold the entire US economy hostage. And what I’ve said is I’m happy to negotiate, and democrats have shown themselves happy to negotiate on any issue. But you can’t threaten to shut down the government as a means of getting leverage in negotiations. You’ve got to take that off the table and I think most people understand that.
If the President accepts it’s normal for federal workers, everyday people like you and me, to cut back on spending to live within their means shouldn’t we expect our government to exist within it’s financial means too?
Shutting the Federal Government down is a drastic action but who is to blame? The person saying “we aren’t living within our fiscal ability and it has to stop” or the person who keeps borrowing with no plan for the future?